[keeganl]

Many people around here talk about their hardware, but XBMC is able to run on a lot of platforms now and even runs well on some older systems, so my concern is getting the perfect XBMC software setup. I am unfamiliar with writing scripts and incorporating them in an XBMC Live install and I would like to do the following.

1. I want to have XBMC as my hub, obviously.
2. I want to be able to Launch Hulu Desktop from within XBMC (select Hulu, preferably from the main menu in the skin, which would close XBMC and Launch Hulu Desktop. When I exit Hulu Desktop, XBMC would relaunch)
3. I would like the same for Boxee as with Hulu Desktop.
4. Has anyone successfully setup a Rom library? I am looking to turn XBMC in to my media hub for movies, tv shows, netflix(through boxee), hulu(through Hulu Desktop), and classic gaming(nes, snes, genesis, mame, n64, and ps1)
5. As stated before, I would like for XBMC to shutdown when it launches Boxee or Hulu Desktop to save on CPU power.

This setup is not restricted to XBMC Live. The reason I said XBMC Live is because I am looking for the smallest possible Linux install underneath to save on BLOAT.

Thank you in advance for help in this area. I have read around the forum for the past few years, but have not seen a very effective way to do these things. I have used the Launcher plugin, but had issue with it keeping proper focus and it didn't close XBMC when launching another program. Also I know the emulation is possible, but I have not seen any clean way to integrate this with XBMC, so if anyone with a successful rom setup would show me a solid starting point I would greatly appreciate it.

[Flomaster]

look into RCB aka Rom Collection Browser for all your ROming needs, im sure you could use launcher, or executer addons for your hulu dekstop needs, however Bluecop has a hulu addon that works quite well I might add

-=Jason=-

[alexpigment]

Do you have a machine that is capable of running Hulu Desktop and Boxee smoothly? On my Acer Revo, for example, the Hulu add-on (see bluecop's awesome video repository for this) works flawlessly even on high def videos. Hulu Desktop on that same system (while running on top of XP) was not anything I would consider "watchable". The interface of the add-on may not be as nice, but I'll trade that for smooth playback any day.

I assume Boxee will have the same problem, because you're dealing with a browser, Flash (may or may not be GPU accelerated based on your OS) and the additional overhead of Boxee itself. I've tried it on an AppleTV and it's simply not watchable for the Hulu/CBS/network content. Again, bluecop's repository has plugins for all the major networks. Highly recommend you check that out in the plugins forum.

Regarding ROMs, I'm headed in that direction myself. I just got all 4 of my Xbox 360 controllers working on XBMC Live. Now I actually have to set up all the emulators and ROMs, which I assume will be the hardest part.

[t2ffn]

alexpigment, I'd love to see a write up of how you get the xbox controllers working and functional with Snes and Genesis emulators etc on the Revo. Once it is documented as do-able, I'd love to set this up aswell.

[keeganl]

agreed on watchable video over a beautiful gui. How do I find these hulu addons? Boxee runs a bit sluggish, so I guess netflix is out of the questions through XBMC. Guess I'll have to fork out the cash on a new Vizio with netflix app. Time will tell. I too would be interested in a write up of how you got the xbox controllers setup and also how you get emulators and roms going on xbmc live

[alexpigment]

t2ffn & keenganl,

I actually did a write-up earlier tonight on the quickest way *I* know how to get the xbox 360 controllers working on Dharma Beta 2 from a fresh install on an Acer Revo. I tested it and I probably spent 3-4 minutes total to get it set up.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=57304&page=10

Still no work on getting the emulators/roms set up though.


"How do I find these hulu addons?"
- Download this zip file

Then in XBMC, go to System > Addons and choose "Install from zip file", then choose the zip file downloaded above. Once that's been done, go to "Get addons" and you should see bluecop's video repository as one of the listings. In there is a whole bunch of goodies: Hulu, CBS, TBS, TNT, South Park, Spike TV, MTV, Daily Show, Colbert Report, etc.

If you have the bandwidth, I recommend going to the installed addons section and selecting Hulu > Configure, because you can configure it to always choose 3500kbps HD when applicable. You can also enable Hulu Plus in there if applicable (by the way, if you request a Hulu Plus invite, you get accepted in a day or so).

EDIT: THANKS BLUECOP!!!!